Hamburg reign triumphant at the Emirates Cup
Europe’s big guns humbled by Jol’s victorious HSV Hamburg
Martin Jol and his winning HSV Hamburg team stood triumphant on Sunday night as the winners of the summer’s biggest international pre-season football tournament, the Emirates Cup.
The Emirates-sponsored Bundesliga side overcame the odds to beat Juventus FC 3 – 0 in front of 60,000 people at the Emirates Stadium.
Hamburg’s triumph crowns a highly successful week for the city. On Monday 28th July, Emirates received its first of 58 A380s, the world’s largest passenger plane, during a handover ceremony at the Airbus facility in Hamburg.
Arsenal FC triumphed 1 – 0 over Real Madrid CF in the following match but were unable to overturn the aggregate deficit, having lost to Juventus the day before. HSV Hamburg is the second team to lift the Emirates Cup following Arsenal’s success last year.
Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger remains optimistic after his side’s victory, despite losing the overall tournament. He said: “It was a good game with good intensity; our shape was much better than on Saturday. We got what we wanted from this kind of game - you can take initiatives from that and in the last two days I have learnt a lot about my squad and its preparations.”
The trophy was presented on the pitch to the winning Hamburg team by Nigel Hopkins, Emirates’ Executive Vice President, Service Delivery, who said: “We wish HSV Hamburg the warmest congratulations for winning this exciting tournament in such style. Emirates has a strong, long-term partnership with Arsenal and Hamburg and we are looking forward to welcoming Europe's biggest teams back to the Emirates Stadium next year.”
The Emirates Cup is another example of how committed the world’s fastest growing airline is to sport. As well as four top flight football clubs and as Official Partner of FIFA, Emirates sponsorships also span the world of rugby, cricket, horse racing, sailing, tennis and golf.
© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
